The guayabera: It’s official in Cuba, unofficial everywhere else

The guayabera was written into law in Cuba this week. In San Antonio, it’s still the unofficial attire for men grateful to wear it instead of a coat and tie.

The cool cotton- or linen-made garment become the dress code of the small island nation’s state events, declared so Wednesday by its Foreign Relations Ministry.

The BBC reports that the origins of the garment is hotly debated in Cuba. “One Cuban legend says it was first made in the early 1700s on the banks of the Yayabo River, for immigrant agricultural workers who needed large pockets to hold enough cigars to get them through a day’s work. Among other theories is that it originated much earlier in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.”

In the Cuban city of Sancti Spiritus, there’s a museum dedicated to the ubiquitous garment. “According to differing theories,” writes the Cuban Standard, “the Encanto owner either brought the design from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, or Mexican visitors took it back to Yucatan.”

I thought they came from Penner’s, the downtown men’s store where my father bought his Stacy Adams shoes and fancy guayabera. Here’s Mark Penner of that famous downtown men’s store.

Cuba law now requires male officials to wear white, long-sleeved guayberas at state events. Women are allowed other colors and styles. The resolution says, in part, “The guayabera has been a part of the history of our country for a long time and constitutes one of the most authentic and legitimate expressions of Cubanism.”

Whether it’s law or now, most men look fabulous in them and afford them comfort and style while keeping them cool. It’s also the best excuse not to tuck in your shirt. When former Cuban President Fidel Castro got out of his olive-green military garb and reappeared in public, he was wearing blue slacks and a white guayabera.